Wednesday, March 13, 2013

I wanted to post something crafty today, but since I haven't made anything in a while I had to dust off this project from Christmas.

Christmas for our family this year was kind of "Little House on the Prairie". There wasn't a huge pile of money sitting around, so after digging change out of the sofa cushions to buy the must-have items I had to get creative to keep the stack of presents from looking so..tiny.

I had seen this idea on the Martha Stewart Show a while back and tucked it away in the recesses of my mind. Of course finding it there when I needed it wasn't easy. So I went to MarthaStewart.com and found the video. Much easier.

My bracelets are a little different from those shown in the video, but the overall idea is the same. Since I didn't have sturdy leather for the bands, I used Tim Holtz grungeboard instead. After cutting the strips to size with a craft knife, I painted them to resemble leather using Martha Stewart satin finish craft paint in Chestnut Brown. I had planned to add monogrammed metal elements to the front of each, but for various reasons that just didn't happen. What I did instead was use a couple of oval shapes from a Tim Holtz grungeboard pack called Mixed Minis Plain, and to make them resemble metal I painted them with Martha Stewart metallic craft paint in Sterling. I let everything dry for a few hours, then punched holes for the beads with my Martha Stewart screw punch. I used the Making Memories Magnetic Stamp Set to emboss each girl's initial into one of the oval shapes, and then took a fine tip permanent marker and traced inside each letter to make them stand out. I used some heavy coated thread from my jewelry-making stash to form the loop closure at one end, after which I continued threading in and out of the holes to attach the beads and oval shapes, and finally finished at the other end by adding a button.﻿

Wow Vanessa! I'm sure the girls enjoyed receiving these so much! They are stylish and trendy :) and the fact that you made them out of love makes them even more special. What a wonderful idea making a leather bracelet out of grungeboard! Unique and awesome!

Search This Blog

Follow by Email

My Story, and I'm sticking to it...

Watching reruns of the Golden Girls made me realize I AM ONE! I couldn't ask for more... my wonderful husband of 30 years, two grown daughters, two sweet (sometimes) granddaughters who live with me, a precious grandson, and a brand new tiny granddaughter. I'm learning to ski, and after several years I'm getting real close. I took up scrapbooking a few years ago and now I'm out of control! I pretend to dabble in all sorts of crafts--jewelry making, sewing, painting... But mostly I've just collected huge piles of supplies waiting for their day in the sun.
Technically I'm a homemaker these days, but frankly, who has time for housework? There are things to make, supplies to buy, and only so many hours in the day.
*Disclaimer--no real crafting going on. Just lofty goals and lots of shopping.